Carl Prinzhorn
Carl Prinzhorn was elected to Parliament in September 3248 as a member of the Constitution Party of Rutania. Prinzhorn was a perfect fit for his party and had hoped to one day become Minister of Finance. In 3256, after having secured his third term in Parliament, Prinzhorn asked the leadership about his prospects of taking this portfolio. Prinzhorn was flat-out rejected by the leadership of the party. Angry, Prinzhorn voted against the cabinet proposal that the government had tabled and was expelled from the party. While sitting as an independent MP, Prinzhorn noticed the Democratic Alliance movement. The movement needed a leader and Prinzhorn believed that his chances of becoming a minister would greatly increase if he was the leader of a party. In December 3257, Prinzhorn resigned from Parliament to join the Democratic Alliance. Weeks later, the party membership ratified Prinzhorn as the first leader of the newly renamed Liberal Party of Rutania. Prinzhorn was able to convince an additional six MP's to resign from Parliament to join his party. While he was initially going to contest the presidency in 3261, Prinzhorn announced in June 3259 that neither he or any other member of his party would be running. He instead announced that he wanted to focus on winning thirty parliamentary seats. In November 3259, Prinzhorn suddenly announced that he would be contesting the presidency. Prinzhorn was able to bring down the government the following month and elections were held in January 3260. In these elections, Prinzhorn won 3.61% of the popular vote. His endorsement of Geraldine Stratton-Lynch helped her narrowly obtain the presidency. In the parliamentary elections, he saw the party win 20 seats. This result was the second best result of any party contesting the elections. However, because he was unable to win the 30 seats that he wanted, many speculated that he would resign. Instead, he announced that he would not stand down and would instead help to further develop the party. Following the 3260 elections, Deputy Leader Darren Coufal was asked to resign because Coufal had openly criticized Prinzhorn. Coufal was replaced by Clayton Privett. Privett was considered to be more of a loyalist than Coufal and unlike Coufal he did not desire the leadership. In 3263, Parliament was dissolved after the dissolution of the Constitution Party. Prinzhorn once again stood for the presidency and shocked pundits by claiming a spot in the runoff. Prinzhorn polled only 4% below Alec Lupin of the Libertarian Freedom Party. In the second round of voting, Prinzhorn recieved the endorsement of President Geraldine Stratton-Lynch. Stratton-Lynch came in last in the first round of voting, winning just under 15%. With her endorsement, Prinzhorn was able to win the presidency by 1.56%. In the parliamentary elections, he saw the Liberals gain 172 seats. After three months of cabinet negotiations, Prinzhorn was finally able to form a government. However, because the role of the president is largely ceremonial, Prinzhorn met with the parliamentary caucus to inform them of his decision to stand down in 3264. In 3267, Prinzhorn was reelected President by nearly 5%. However, with Guillaume d'Estaing now serving as the leader of the Liberals, Prinzhorn often found himself at odds with the national leadership. Two years into his second term, d'Estaing orchestrated a leadership coup against Prinzhorn. Prinzhorn lost the party's presidential nomination to Wendy Miyagi. Miyagi would later win the presidency. Priznhorn served out the remained of his term and retired from Parliament in 3279. He died four years later at the age of 88.